A positive example of the principle of “natural biomethod” implementation in plant protection can be the creation of artificial shelters designed to attract beneficial insects for wintering and for reproduction within agrocenoses (field breeding). The aim of our research was to develop a method for utilizing artificial shelters to attract representatives of Hymenoptera, as a way to assess and use the natural potential of entomophages and pollinators in an agrocenosis. Tests of the design of artificial shelters revealed that the maximum number of bee nests (Megachilidae) was found in dark-colored artificial shelters: made of dark plastic (70.8 %), delta-shaped artificial shelters made of dark cardboard (20.8 %). Bees preferred to build nests in the agrocenosis of the pear orchard and the herb garden (91.7 %). In 2024, an invasive species of burrowing wasp (Sphecidae) – Isodontia mexicana – was caught, identified and described in the artificial shelters located on the territory of the Institute of Genetics, Physiology, and Plant Protection. The wasp nests were placed in cardboard delta-shaped white (40 %) and dark (60 %) artificial shelters, exclusively within the agrocenosis of the apple orchard near the forest belt (100 %). No wasp nests were found in plastic tubes or shelters with plastic casings. The ability of bees and wasps to colonize anthropogenic cavities of suitable sizes, along with wide polytrophism of species, allows us to consider solitary bees (Megachilidae) and the invasive species of burrowing wasps (Sphecidae) – I. mexicana, as very promising species for field breeding in artificial shelters, aimed at enhancing the economic efficiency of agroecosystems. As the population of I. mexicana increases, it is likely that the wasp will control locust pests of crops. We emphasize the necessity for long-term monitoring of these insects in the Republic of Moldova.
entomophages, pollinators, field breeding, artificial shelters, Hymenoptera, Megachilidae, Sphecidae, Isodontia mexicana.
1. Aleksanov V. V., Alekseev S. K., Novikova O. A., Sionova M. N., Teleganova V. V., Shmytov A. A. Metody inventarizacii i monitoringa bioraznoobraziya na osobo ohranyaemyh prirodnyh territoriyah
2. Gladkaya A. A. Primenenie iskusstvennyh konstrukciy dlya akkumulyacii entomofagov (Chrysopa, Chrysopidae, Neuroptera) v agrobiocenoze dlya biologicheskoy zaschity rasteniy //Ekosistemy. – 2022.
3. Ivanov S. P. Bionomiya pchel-megahilid (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae) i evolyuciya ih gnezdostroitel'nyh instinktov: diss. dokt. biol. nauk: spec. 03.00.25 Entomologiya. – Kiev; Institut
4. Ivanov S. P. Metody izucheniya biologii i ekologii dikih pchel v prirode i laboratorii. Chast' 1. – Simferopol': TNU. – 2011. – 92 s.
5. Ivanov S. P., Gaul' A. M. A. Osobennosti ekologii pchely Osmia cornuta (Apoidea, Megachilidae) v Krymu. Soobschenie I. Rasprostranenie, chislennost', biotopicheskoe raspredelenie//Ekosistemy.– 2019.
6. Ivanov S. P., Zhidkov V. Yu., Dubinina A. V. Izuchenie sposobnosti pchel-megahilid (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) k orientacii po rezul'tatam zaseleniya imi gnezdlovushek Evraziyskiy Soyuz
7. Ivanov S. P., Fateryga A. V. Biologiya gnezdovaniya Ancistrocerus nigrisornis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) v Krymu // Izvestiya Har'kovskogo entomologicheskogo obschestva. – 2003 (2004). – T.
8. Kurzenko N. V. Podsemeystvo Eumeninae // Opredelitel' nasekomyh Dal'nego Vostoka Rossii: V 6-ti tt. / [Pod red. P. A. Lera]. — SPb.: Nauka, 1995. — T. IV: Setchatokryloobraznye, skorpionnicy,
9. Fateryga A. V., Ivanov S. P. Odinochnye skladchatokrylye osy (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), zaselyayuschie iskusstvennye gnezdov'ya v Krymu // Ohorona navkolishn'ogo seredovischa ta
10. Opredelitel' nasekomyh evropeyskoy chasti SSSR / [Pod red. Tarbinskiy S. P., Plavil'schikov N. N.]. Sel'hozgiz, Moskva-Leningrad, 1948. – 1127 s.
11. Opredelitel' nasekomyh evropeyskoy chasti SSSR. T. III. Pereponchatokrylye. Shestaya chast' / Zhelohovcev A. N., Tobias V. I., Kozlov M. A. – L.: Nauka, 1988. – 268 s.
